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I'm moving to Sydney in November and travelling alone, am I crazy????
Hi,
I'm Andrea, I'm 25, single and living in Manchester doing a marketing job. I think I'm having a mid twenties crisis but 6 months ago I made the decision to leave the UK behind and try to find a better work/ life balance and quality of life in Oz. I just got absolutely sick of the rat race of every day life, working sometimes 7 days a week for very little reward and hardly ever seeing the sunshine!
As I keep telling myself, if I don't do it now while I have minimal ties, I never will...
I'm going over there with a working holiday visa and plan to do a bit of travelling before xmas and new year up the east coast to Cairns, back to Sydney for NYE. In the meantime I will need to find work and some nice new Ozzy flat mates. It all seems very daunting at the minute, I'm hoping this site will help relieve some worries/ concerns!!!! Feel free to say hi and offer any top tips, I need all the help I can get.x
Hi Andrea
I spent a year in Oz when I was 18 years old and was 19 whilst there. I lived in Perth six months, then Sydney for a month and spent the rest of the time travelling around. It is really easy to make friends. I didn't go on my own but I am sure you will be fine if you are able to talk to people and aren't shy. Sydney is a great place but you may prefer Brisbane and the Gold Coast, etc. especially as you are only 25. Hope you have a great time, wish you loads of luck.
Les
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Hiya i cant give you any tips for Sydney ,sorry but if you fancied Perth im sure our resident single super stud Earlswood would love to show around ,lol,i must say you are brave but im sure you will love it out here.keep us all informed as to how you get on.
Cal x
Mate, I'm (a young!) 38 and also nervous as I hope to go back to Melbourne in Feb 09, but NEVER let nerves stop you doing anything. If it doesn't make you twitchy, it's unlikely to be worth the effort.
If I can give you any piece of advice, it's do it NOW!!!!!
My one regret is that I didn't do it in my twenties. My only way into Aus now is to study for 2 years and that's going to cost me every penny that I have, plus a small loan on top. Effectively I will stumble into Aus wise eyed and ready for working at 40 years of age, with no property, pension or savings. Nice eh?
I travelled around the world 18 months ago and ended up in Aus and loved it. I was on my todd in Melbourne, I'm very shy and made myself start talking to someone in the Melbourne hostel I was staying in. By huge coincidence, she was also from Leicester. We hit it off and travelled around NZ too.
She had saved for years with her boyfriend to work in Aus for 2 years. he then dumped her in Melbourne and went back to the UK. Everyone thought she would quit too, but despite not being the most confident of people, she stayed and applied for a 2 year visa.
To cut a long story short, she now lives in Perth, she has easily had her work visa extended to 2011 and she came back to Leicester last month for a visit and hated it, couldn't wait to go back. I went to Perth last week to see family and meet up with her and she's still loving it.
Granted it won't be for everyone, but you're at the age (Christ I sound like my mum!) when you can afford to do it and if it doesn't work out, bog off backpacking around Asia for a bit and head back. It'll still be an adventure that you'll be talking about for years and you'll learn tons about yourself along the way. Your 30s are for mortgages, you're in your 20s???
DO IT!!!!!
My one bit of advice is to stay in a hostel for a bit. You'll meet loads of travellers who all need a bit of company and many of them will be looking to stay long term too.
I'd highly recommend that you try Australia on a working holiday visa while you have no ties. You only have to read all the angst of people on PIO who have family/mortgage commitments and have to make the big decision whether to try Australia or not. I came here initially on a WHV, liked it but wasn't quite sure ... only made my mind up after returning to Leeds.
Go for it. Sydney is a great city for younger people.
Hey Andrea, I'm going to Brisbane on my own in September as per my other forum post, i'll pm you my e-mail and we can meet for a drink before I go, that way if you travel out my way we can meet up. I'm hoping to go to Sydney for new year's eve too.
Most people who travel up the east coast of Oz below a certain age (I won't quote one!) seem to use the hostel system which I'm reliably informed are excellent in Oz. From what I've heard a lot have swimming pools and it's a great way to meet people of a similar mind who are working/travelling their way around.
It just depends on whether you like to 'rough it' or you prefer your 'home comforts'. I'm 36 so I've got to the age when I prefer the later but of course they come at a price.
All the best & go for it, I'm sure you'll have the best experience of your life (at least so far!).
